Attoenets



(No Model.)

W. S. LORD. Vise Patented Sept. 14,1880.

N. PETERS, PHDTO-LITMOGRAPM A HINGTON D C STATES A trio,

PATENT VISE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 232,282, datedSeptember 14, 1880.

Application filed July 16, 1880.

To all whom tt may concern:

Be it known that 1, WM. S'rINsoN LORD, of Brownsville, in the county ofShelby and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and Improved Vise;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same.

My invention relates to an improved vise that may be easily operated bythe footof the workman to forcibly clamp the jaws of the vise upon thework while the hands are free to hold the work, and whichmay beimmediately adjusted to adapt the jaws to embrace the work before theclamping movement of the jaws is exerted, as will hereinafter more fullyappear.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of my improvedvise. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same with the jaws un clamped;Fig. 3, a central section of the same in the line as m of Fig. 1, withthe vise in its clamped position; and Fig. 4, a detailed view of amodification of one of the parts.

The fixed jawA of the vise is securely connected to the bench B by ametal strap, 0. The stationary jaw A extends some distance below thetable, and forms a support for the various parts below the table. Themovable or sliding jaw D is provided with a slidebar, E, secured atright angles thereto, that passes through an opening in the lower end ofjaw A, and also passes through the ways of a guideplate, F, that issupported in a horizontal position by curved brackets G G secured to thefixed jaw A. A friction-roller, a, may be journaled across the openingin the fixed jaw A for the bar E to slide upon, so that it may bewithdrawn with but little friction. The slidin g jaw D is madeadjustable to embrace the work without clamping it, and is held in theadjusted position by the following means:

A ratchet-toothed rack-bar, H, is secured to the fixed jaw A and to thesurface of the table, and receives the hooked end of a coupling-bar, I,the other end of which passes freely through both the fixed and thesliding jaws of the vise, and is held in proper relative positionthereto by a screw-thread, 1', upon the end of the bar and acrank-handled nut, 1 that engages therewith. -A foot-lever, K, is formedof double bell'cranked arms that are hinged at (No model.)

their rear ends to the brackets Gr Gby means of a through-bolt, g, thatconnects them, and come together at their front ends, which are joinedto a pedal-bar, K, that projects below the vise within convenient reachof the workman. The foot-lever arms are provided with a series of holes,and a through-bolt, 70, passes across from one lever to the other toconnect the opposite holes, so that the bolt 70 may be adjusted nearerto or farther from the fulcrumbolt g.

Links L L are connected at their lower ends to lever-arms K K by meansof bolt 70, and are connected at their upper ends to the bolt m of an l-shaped segment-pawl, P, provided with a series of ratchet-teeth uponits short arm, that is pivoted at its angle to the brackets G in suchmanner that when the long arm of the pawl P is drawn down by the link Land foot-lever K the short toothed arm will engage with the teeth of therack and force the barE outwardly to clamp the jaws, and when the saidlever is released the pawl and lever, with their connections, are raisedagain by a spring, 0, that bears against the long arm of the lever, andthe pawl will be lifted out of contact with the rack-bar, so that thesliding jaw may be freely adjusted by hand.

The hooked end of the coupling-barI is first lifted from the notches ofthe rack, and the sliding jaw is drawn out and adj usted to closely restagainst the sides of the work between the jaws of the vise withoutclamping it, and the hooked end of the bar is then dropped into thenotch in the rack-bar most nearly opposite to it. If there should be noconvenient notch for the hook to engage with, the crank-handle of thenut I is turned to extend or reduce the length of the bar untiltheadjustment is made. This latter operation may usually be quicklyperformed with but a slight turn of the nut. The work may then be heldand adjusted to the desired position between the jaws, while the handsare free to hold the work or manipulate the tools in performing theadjustment. When this is properly done the workman may, by placing hisfoot upon the pedal of the footlever, bring the pawl down into contactwith the rack upon the barof the sliding jaw and thrust the lower end ofsaid jaw outwardly, while the upper middle portion of the said jaw willbe prevented from moving farther away from the fixed jaw by the nut ofthe coupling-bar, and the upper end of the sliding jaw will be forced intoward the fixed jaw to an extent corresponding with the movement of thelower end of the sliding jaw and clamp the work between the upperportion of the jaws with a pressure corresponding to the intermediateleverage and the pressure exerted upon the pedal.

A locking pin or catch conveniently placed upon a stationary portion ofthe bench or fixed jaw will serve to hold the foot-lever down and thejaws permanently clamped without the constant pressure of the foot ofthe workman, if desired.

Various modifications may be made in the above-described machine withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

Instead of the segment-pawl above described the rack-bar E may beoperated by the footlever by a swinging pawl, P, suspended from the pinm of a pair of links, M, pivoted at m to the stationary jaw A, and heldout of contact with the teeth of the rack-bar when the lever K is notoperated by means of a springplate, 0, secured to the stationary jaw Aand table B, the free end of which passes beneath a link, m that isconnected with the pin m. When the foot-lever is depressed the free endof the pawl will engage with one of the teeth of the rack and thrust thebar E forward. The leverage-connection between the pawl and the pedalmay alsb be varied in a manner that would be readily suggested by askilled workman.

The above-described device is cheap, and may be manufactured by anyblacksmith with but few workshop facilities. It is also very strong anddurable, and may be quickly operated after a little practice, so that itmay be instantly adjusted and clamped, the foot as well as the handsserving to facilitate the work. The tedious process of screwing a longbe made entirely of iron, or partially so, at but little cost, as theexpensive process of cutting and fitting heavy screws is avoided.

I do not broadly claim avise provided with a fixed jaw and a sliding jawadjustably connected to the fixed jaw, and arranged to clamp the work bythrusting the lower end of the sliding jaw outwardly by foot-levermechanism, as I am aware that such form of construction has beenheretofore employed.

What I claim as new is 1. In a vise, the combination of the stationaryjaw, the rack-bar secured thereto, the sliding jaw, the coupling-bar,provided with a hook at one end and a screw-thread and nut at the other,to connect the jaws and readily adjust the sliding jaw to suit the sizeof the work, and lever mechanism connected with a foot-treadle to thrustthe lower end of the sliding jaw outwardly and clamp the work with theupper end of the jaw by foot-power, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

2. In a vise, the combination of the fixed jaw, the rack-bar securedthereto, the couplingbar, the movable jaw, the slide-bar with a racksecured to its upper edge, the pawl hinged to the stationary jaw, afoot-lever hinged to the frame and connected with the pawl by a link, tobring the pawl into gear with the rack and thrust the lower end of themovable jaw outwardly and clamp the work with the upper end of said jaw,substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a vise, the combination of the fixed jaw A, slidingjaw D,coupling-bar I, the rackedged slide-bar E, the pawl-and-lever mechanismfor actuating the same, with the bracket G and guide-block F, forholding the slide-bar E in position, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

The above specification of my invention signed by me this 14th day ofJuly, 1880.

WILLIAM S. LORD.

Witnesses:

SoLoN O. KEMON, OHAs. A. PETTIT.

